Issa Zarepour made the remarks in a meeting held in Tehran on Wednesday with the visiting Tanzanian Minister of Trade and Industrial Development Omar Said Shaaban.

Zarepour said development of relations with African countries including Tanzania is the Islamic Republic’s strategy as the country has expressed readiness to take step towards this goal.

In his remarks, the minister called for formation of a joint working group to follow up finalization of mutual agreements.

For his part, Shaaban appreciated the Islamic Republic government’s hospitality and thanked for preparing the ground for his meeting with the Iranian president.

Such a hospitality and meeting indicated how much the Islamic Republic attaches importance to its ties with the African states, the Tanzanian minister said expressing readiness to expand cooperation with Iran.

He further promised to pave the way for fostering bilateral ties.

Senior officials from some African countries including Central African Republic and Tanzania are in Tehran to attend the Iran-Africa meeting. MNA/IRN